School closure after break?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher it would feel a bit violating to have just my class shut down if I test positive and have everyone know that information. I don’t want to be negatively judged for my health status. I a doing everything I can to NOT get Covid but omicron is a virulent little sucker.

Are you suggesting that the whole school needs to go virtual so that you can keep your positive test secret? That’s nuts. No one will judge you for testing positive. SMH

I did NOT gather that from what he or she said at all.

Then what did you gather from her first sentence? I thought it was pretty clear that she meant that if she got Covid and only her class was shut down instead of the entire school, it would be obvious that she had Covid. I do think that is probably true assuming she would be asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms and would be teaching virtually (in what situation would you do that except to isolate?), but I don't think anyone would judge her for it. So many people are testing positive right now, nobody in their right mind would think it's a moral failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every day, the same old trolls just rehash the same old stupid excuses for why schools should NOT close.

People. It's a numbers game. If there aren't enough teachers and subs, there's nothing anyone can do about it. You can rant and rave all you want, accuse everyone and his mother, but it won't change the numbers of the ground.

Of course you're going to say: "Teachers gathered during the Holidays, they shouldn't have!" or "Teachers are malingering, they're pretending to be positive!" or whatever weak sauce your silly brains will come up with.

It will always be someone's fault. It can't just be the fact that DC has a stunning, STUPENDOUS, spike of cases right now that dwarfs not only its own history of spikes, but all other states's history of spikes. Here is the latest number of 7 day running average Covid cases per 100K:

And it will fall just as fast as it rose

I was just watching CNN. A senior public health official came on and starting talking about how Singapore has stopped counting COVID CASES. Apparently, the country now only counts hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid. The guy said that with more than 80% of Singaporeans ages 5+ fully vaccinated, some immunity in the society from Covid circulating for almost 2 years, and a new virus circulating that pretty clearly isn't as virulent as Delta, the only relevant info was hospitalizations and deaths, not the number of cases. We can fuss all day and night about Covid spiking a new in the District, or we can start thinking like smart public health officials in Singapore.

We don’t have 80 percent vaccination here, and we’re not an island.

New poster here but I don't know how you plan to run schools in January if many teachers are out sick. It's not about closing them to prevent them from getting sick but closing them because they ARE sick.
I have covid right now (vaxed and boostered) and was pretty sick for 24 hours. Sick enough that I slept about 18 hours straight at the worst point (day 5/6). Today (day 7 since symptoms first appeared) is the first day I'm feeling like I'm on the upswing.
Never mind, I'm still infectious because my latest rapid test (taken this morning) still came back positive.

[Anonymous]

Last month, a grand total of four people in Washington DC died from coronavirus. Try to keep things in perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last month, a grand total of four people in Washington DC died from coronavirus. Try to keep things in perspective.

If it's just about deaths then why is 70% of DCPS central office staff still working remotely?

[Anonymous]

I’ve said this on other threads here but schools will definitely be going virtual in January. Perhaps not district-wide, perhaps not even school-wide, but I think parents should plan on having their kids home for a month or so. Teachers and students will be testing positive left and right, and with quarantines and isolation there will not be enough staff in the building to monitor (let alone teach) kids. Buckle up DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last month, a grand total of four people in Washington DC died from coronavirus. Try to keep things in perspective.

If it's just about deaths then why is 70% of DCPS central office staff still working remotely?

this argument is dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve said this on other threads here but schools will definitely be going virtual in January. Perhaps not district-wide, perhaps not even school-wide, but I think parents should plan on having their kids home for a month or so. Teachers and students will be testing positive left and right, and with quarantines and isolation there will not be enough staff in the building to monitor (let alone teach) kids. Buckle up DCUM!

I am ok with having a rough couple of months, with rolling two-week school closures in individual classrooms or individual grades (my kids are ES, so that's my perspective -- I know it's a different scenario in MS and HS). I'm not ok with preemptively shutting down schools with no apparent reopening metric in mind. That's exactly what we did last year and we were closed the entire year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last month, a grand total of four people in Washington DC died from coronavirus. Try to keep things in perspective.

Right. Agreed 100%. But you still have to count on 2 weeks off per person who gets sick. It's still an illness. I have it now (I'm a nurse) and I feel like crap.
Plus I'm infectious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There have been increasing calls for virtual learning after winter break, a closure that could last for weeks if not until the end of the schoolyear. In his letter DC Council chairman Mendelson asks the Chancellor whether he is prepared to implement virtual learning if needed. While he is not advocating specifically for school closure, it is concerning that this is on the table. The CDC guidance is clear that schools should remain open, as COVID poses a much lower risk to children than school closures/virtual learning.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChmnMendelson/status/1471559238472421390?s=20

It is also concerning that DCPS is stating in it's communications to plan "currently" for a January 5th start date. DCPS also sent a letter saying that the start date could be further adjusted according to the results of the staff tests at any specific school. My children attend an elementary school so there is no need for a school wide closure if a few teachers are out. If subs cannot be found only those teachers classrooms should be impacted.

I completely agree with you and am concerned as well, although I am heartened by the fact that the Chancellor's message seems to indicate that schools would only close if staff positivity forces it, and I am hoping that will mean only individual classrooms at elementary schools for the duration of a teacher's isolation.

What got me a bit more worried is that my child's support team from our ES reached out asking me to sign a form for providing IEP services virtually. I get that they need to prepare for all scenarios, but it still seems worrisome that a closure of the entire school is apparently on the table.

Lol sped teacher here…I’m sorry what? I’m not going to have my parents sign that. If we are virtual because teachers at school are positive legally I am covered. I don’t anticipate having to be virtual the rest of the year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last month, a grand total of four people in Washington DC died from coronavirus. Try to keep things in perspective.

If it's just about deaths then why is 70% of DCPS central office staff still working remotely?

Because they aren’t that important but it seems they should come in since they are barely doing their jobs, hiring is slow, granting maternity leave is slow, replying back to time sensitive emails, etc.


^Also death is a low bar. How many of the people who got covid are experiencing affects afterwards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last month, a grand total of four people in Washington DC died from coronavirus. Try to keep things in perspective.

If it's just about deaths then why is 70% of DCPS central office staff still working remotely?

Because they aren’t that important but it seems they should come in since they are barely doing their jobs, hiring is slow, granting maternity leave is slow, replying back to time sensitive emails, etc.


^Also death is a low bar. How many of the people who got covid are experiencing affects afterwards?

Why don’t you provide some stats on long covid amongst the vaccinated, if that is something that concerns you? Look it up.

[Anonymous]

Elementary schools do not need to close because teachers are out sick - only the impacted classroom needs to close. However, closing elementary schools is exactly what they are doing if this week's closures are any indication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elementary schools do not need to close because teachers are out sick - only the impacted classroom needs to close. However, closing elementary schools is exactly what they are doing if this week's closures are any indication.

If there are no subs and no extra staff they have to close. I mean I guess they could pull special education teachers and deny iep services to kids to keep classrooms open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elementary schools do not need to close because teachers are out sick - only the impacted classroom needs to close. However, closing elementary schools is exactly what they are doing if this week's closures are any indication.

If there are no subs and no extra staff they have to close. I mean I guess they could pull special education teachers and deny iep services to kids to keep classrooms open.

I'd gladly skip my child's IEP services, which in the event of a closure would be provided virtually and be virtually useless (haha), in order for those teachers to help keep the school open!

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. DCPS will not go virtual citywide, maybe MAYBE they’ll continue with on a school/class basis. Schools will remain open. Central office will continue to work from home “where it’s safe” and there won’t be any parental uproar although those are the people who should be subbing in classes for their kids.